Just straightened a bowed violin neck with careful clamping, but the wood movement afterwards has me wondering

In my experience, letting it sit under pressure for a full day did the trick. Your mileage may vary, but I'm honestly puzzled why it shifted back a tiny bit once I released the clamps.

3 comments

3 Comments

kim_perry1mo ago

Park.adam's note on leaving things clamped for days matches what I've heard. Some old repair book said wood has a memory, like it wants to go back to how it was. It needs that long clamp time to forget its old bent shape. Your tiny shift back is probably that memory fighting the change. The book called it "creep," which is just a fancy way of saying wood moves slow. Makes sense if you've ever left a wet board in the sun and watched it warp.

john_price561mo ago

So does the memory fade or is wood just stubborn?

park.adam1mo ago

Always thought wood just needed a good strong clamp for a few hours. Had one shift back on me like yours, taught me it needs way more time to settle under pressure, especially with humidity changes. Now I leave pieces clamped for at least two full days, sometimes three, before even thinking about touching them.